University economics;: Elements of inquiry

ISBN: 0534000304

Author: Armen Albert, Alchian

Condition: Used

Man wants more than there is any prospect of obtaining. As soon as we have more of this, we want still more of it and more of that and that. To say that we always want more is to say that man lives, even in the most affluent societies, in a state of scarcity. The response to scarcity - What determines how much each person produces and gets of the total? And what determines the particular mix of goods and services s/he consumes? -- constitutes the area of economic study. Economics studies the competitive and cooperative behavior of people in resolving conflicts of interest that arise because wants exceed what is available. To address these questions, this book discusses the following topics, each in its own chapter: -> Scarcity, Competitive Behavior, and Economics; -> Competition; -> Some Behavior Postulates; -> Basis of Exchange; -> Market Restrictions, Pollution, Property Enforcement Costs, and Public Goods; -> Costs and Production; -> The Business Firm and Profits; -> Production by Firms in Price-Takers Open Markets; -> Production and Pricing in Price-Searchers Open Markets; -> Sellers Tactics for Changing Market Conditions; -> Derived Demand for Productive Resources; -> Wages and Employment in Open Markets; -> Restrictions on Open Markets for Labor; -> Interest, Saving, and Investing; -> Growth and Distribution of Wealth; -> Unemployment and Economic Fluctuations; -> National Income: Measurement and Meaning; -> National-Income Theory: The Basic Model; -> Money and Income; -> Money Supply and Commercial Banks; -> Money Supply: Determinants and Techniques of Control; -> Government Finances; -> Fiscal Policy Impacts on Income; -> Inflation; -> Stabilization orDestabilization Policy?; -> Imports and the Gain from Trade; -> International Trade Theory; -> Resource Alocation, Terms of Trade, and Tariffs; -> The Balance of Payments and Its Interpretation; -> Balance-of-Payments Adjustment